Thread: Paper topo maps

Hello everyone, just in the process of planning a trip to NZ from UK and was wondering about navigation. I'm an old school type and much prefer paper topo maps and compass. Can you still buy paper maps from shops in New Zealand, here in UK you can buy 1:50,000 local maps in newsagents. Would local rural stores sell them or would a town or city be best to get them.
Many thanks,
Nick.

Mapworld in Christchurch

https://www.linz.govt.nz/products-se...-map-retailers

I'd buy them online before you travel just in case the selling agents don't have the ones you want in stock when you arrive, maybe even download & print them at home.

You can still find them at news agents and post shop (if you can find one). Outdoor stores often have them too.

I have noticed it can be hard to find the exact one you need in areas that are heavily visited.

Bivouac.co.nz has a lot of them to purchase online. Good luck

Originally Posted by Nick-UK

Hello everyone, just in the process of planning a trip to NZ from UK and was wondering about navigation. I'm an old school type and much prefer paper topo maps and compass. Can you still buy paper maps from shops in New Zealand, here in UK you can buy 1:50,000 local maps in newsagents. Would local rural stores sell them or would a town or city be best to get them.
Many thanks,
Nick.

good on ya still a place for them - yes DOC visitor center's will have them and hunting and fishing stores also stock them - I wish more would use them and carry them -when the batterys go down on a GPS what then - the old garmins used to have a screen which said DO NOT USE AS YOUR PRIMARY MEANS OF NAVIGATION very very true - sadly they will not have DOC boundarys which is usefull if you are hunting near private land - but when in NZ go into a web site called WAMS maps ( Walking Access Mapping System ) you will get DOC boundarys on a NZ Topo map base and you can draw on your boundarys before going hunting - by playing with the type of map you can also get good aerial photos - very handy to pick up clearings for hunting - a tip using WAMS switch of all layers you dont need and system will work faster good luck

Always a good idea too have the old school maps in the field on multi day trips
Plans can change and especially good it you want to explain something to someone else

One small problem is when you are hunting around the join in two maps or even worse near a corner and you might need three maps too safely cover an intended hunting area

In which case I would print and laminate as required

Originally Posted by Nick-UK

Hello everyone, just in the process of planning a trip to NZ from UK and was wondering about navigation. I'm an old school type and much prefer paper topo maps and compass. Can you still buy paper maps from shops in New Zealand, here in UK you can buy 1:50,000 local maps in newsagents. Would local rural stores sell them or would a town or city be best to get them.
Many thanks,
Nick.

Have you had a look at this website ? I contacted them a while back and they said that they could print maps of nz.
https://www.splash-maps.com/

as others have said plenty of places sell them... the NZTOPO50 app on your phone will give you both topo map and satilight photo ,will show you DOC block boundaries AND your current location... great fun to get out paper map,do the dead reckoning thing,yip Im here. if really keep then work out your 6 figure grid reference, and then and only then ask phone/gps .surprising how close you can get.
topo50 costs less than $10 to install and is really good easy to use programme,if an old techtard like me can use it,you will be fine.

+1 for printing from topomap.co.nz. Takes a bit to get the hang of, but being able to select the specific area you’re going to avoids the problem @akaroa1 mentioned and carrying a few laminated A4s is way more practical than a massive folded map.

years back I took my big paper map into printers in Timaru,got them to print of an A4 sized area of it and laminated it..then took the DOC paper map and cut out the block,sat it on top of my new laminated smaller map and traced outline/block boundaries..... and now my phone does it for me,oh how we have progressed.

Paper Topo maps are readily available online through several outlets such as "Gearshop".
Also available over the counter in almost all sporting stores and visitor centres.
That said the NZTOPO app is great if you have a device to download them too and take with you.

Thanks for all of your replies guys, I'll probably have both paper and digital maps on phone, if I can work out how to download. I do like studying a paper map in my tent of an evening, seeing the bigger picture without having to zoom in and out, a bit of bedtime reading. I think once I've decided exactly where to go I'll make a list of the maps required and buy them on arrival, it would add up to a fair bit of weight otherwise.

I normally just download the specific map from the link below, then just print the specific section I want to scale and laminate it:

https://www.linz.govt.nz/products-se...50-map-chooser

Originally Posted by Andygr

Have you had a look at this website ? I contacted them a while back and they said that they could print maps of nz.
https://www.splash-maps.com/

Many thanks for that Andygr, I hadn't heard of them and they are here in the UK. A bit like silk escape maps used by the military.

The UP side with old folded maps is that lots of mine have notes on the edges and spots marked on them from previous hunts and when you sit and have a study you start too remember why they are there

I often write private land owner numbers on the edge if I need to ring and ask to take a short cut ( does happen in the South Island ).
Helicopter operator numbers
Local DoC Office or officer details
Sometimes even the dates I was in that location

I've forgotten most of what I have learned about these areas
Especially real world track times when going in heavy and going out even heavier